DAN AND ROBBIE INTERVIEW - EDINBURGH VENUE 1ST MAY 2001

This interview was done an hour or so before the gig started. Only Robbie and Dan were able to talk to us but Matt and Martyn were seen wandering about backstage throughout.

Robyn– We have questions but you only have to make a half-arsed attempt to answer them. (laughs) We only made them up last night.
Rob – What are we doing this for again?
Robyn – It’s for websites.
Rob – Brilliant. Which websites?
Robyn - I’m from ‘King Adora Land’ and Lyndsey writes ‘Sweet Anorexia’
Dan – Yeah? Alright
Lyndsey- Robyn’s going to talk I’m not.
Robyn – Right OK. (laughs) Right best gig you’ve ever played and why?
Dan – It’d be the last one I reckon. Previously though not ever. But the festivals were quite amazing.
Robyn – Yeah?
Robbie– There was quite a..I dunno..a kinda of a Camden Palace wasn’t it?
Dan - Yeah yeah
Robyn – Why?
Robbie – Just one of the best gigs we played. Really exciting moment, d’ya know what I mean, when everything is really happening. And like you turn up at a festival at like 2o’clock in the afternoon and you’ve got a whole tent full of people, which you don’t expect! And it kinda hits home what’s happening and it’s really nice.
Dan – Well going to festivals...I know I’ve never been asked to go and watch a band at like 3 o’clock in the afternoon and we didn’t expect you all to be there and it was brilliant.
Robyn – Mm. I was at T in the Park last year but I never came to see you. I was a fool, a fool I tell you.
Robbie – We’re there this year anyway.
Robyn – Mm. So why are you re-releasing Bionic?
Dan – Just because, well a lot more people deserve to hear it y’know. I mean we only released it as a first single y’know and basically a lot more deserve to hear it. Robbie – It’s a great song really.
Robyn – It is yeah
Robbie – It deserves to be played a lot more.
Robyn – What are you listening to just now music wise?
Robbie – Music wise? We got some strange stuff on the bus.
Dan – There a lot of new pop stuff on the bus, em I haven’t brought any CDs with me this time so… We’re putting Guns and Roses on
Robbie – Yeah lots of Guns and Roses. Clash, lots of Clash.
Dan - Yeah
Robbie – Just a mixture really of all sorts.
Dan – (names another band I can’t make out) and em Quantum Spectrum, em (follows 20secs of conversation about the bands named I can’t hear)
Robyn – (trying to read questions) Sorry my eyesight is terrible. Hang on. Last famous person you had a pint with?
Robbie – (to Dan) I think that was probably you last night
Dan – Yeah
Robbie – Not really anybody to be honest. I mean the last people we met were Ash not so long back. Who were great and quite into our music y’know.
Dan – So we’ll just count them
Robbie - We might have had a pint with them. (laughs)
Robyn – Favourite song to play live and why?
Dan – Favourite song that we play live?
Robyn – Yeah
Dan – I dunno. (to Robbie) What’s yours?
Robbie – I dunno. All of them.
Dan – Its gotta be one of them innit?
Robbie – There’s a new one that we do in-between Bionic and Smoulder that I quite like. And you’ll see tonight. (laughs) nah nah we enjoy them all really. I think Smoulder is definitely a great one cause the crowds seem to really get into it more.
Dan – It’s quite nice to be playing like some B-sides and stuff on this tour as well. We changed the set around a bit more. Now the songs have been changed. It’s a bit more of a challenge to see if you can remember them as well when you’re on stage.
Robbie – Also there’s a song that’s on the album which is coming out about the 22nd May called ‘Music Takes You’ which is becoming a real favourite. It’s our ‘rock epic.’
Robyn – There’s been criticism for your short sets. What do you have to say about it?
Robbie – We’re doing half an hour while most bands, fucking Wazaton, are doing an hour and a half do y’know what I mean. So as I see it people just get bored anyway after like half an hour and then they’d be complaining that we were playing sets that were too long. It’s very hard to keep people’s attention span for like an hour. But eventually when we do do an hour we’ll keep people’s attention span without a doubt.
Dan – We’re still kinda building up as well as a band and y’know and the audience’s are too. The set will probably build as and when that happens.
Robyn – OK, have you ever done anything that has disgusted yourselves with your own rock star behaviour?
Dan – Ehhhh
Robyn– I want the stories now (laughs) I just want some gossip for the web page.
Robbie – This tour I managed to soak a whole area with a fire extinguisher, I was very drunk on vodka. It was at a Rock Night and the woman who runs the place is really sweet and nice, so I’m sorry it was me.
Dan – When we were in South Hampton I got very very pissed on Red Bull and Vodka and I told this girl, or should I say this lady, who sings in a band all about my masturbation habits. That was pretty eh shameful.
Robbie – And I tried to hitchhike here on the motorway as well. I was very drunk.
Robyn – Lowest point for King Adora as a band?
Dan – Lowest point?
Robyn– Yeah
Robbie – To be honest we haven’t really had any. No low points really. We just keep ourselves happy y’know what I mean? That way everyone else is happy.
Robyn – Highest points then?
Dan – Highest points? Eh
Robbie – I think it was probably eh the highest point so far is probably our sound engineer being fucked and sticking his head out of the window. I doubt anyone could higher than he did at that point. (laughs) But just this basic time really, just being on the road it’s the highest point. Just touring around different towns and meeting lots of different people and seeing lots of faces jumping up and down.
Dan – It gets better all the time y’know. There’s more people getting into us and coming to see us.
Robbie – When Matt stops singing sometimes and people singing the words, its fantastic.
Dan – Yeah it’s brilliant that is.
Robbie – (laughs) Maybe he should just get moving and let the audience sing the song.
Robyn – So what do you think about the new album?
Dan – It’s pretty amazing.
Robbie – It’s an amazing album, it was nice.
Dan – So was the whole experience we had making it and putting it together.
Robbie – Its as important to us as things like Nirvana – ‘Nevermind’ is important to people. Things like the Beatles are important to people. Its fantastic and we put the best we could into it and we’re all happy with it. Which is the main thing. I’m sure lots of people will be too.
Robyn – Oh dear, what’s the funniest joke you’ve heard in a while?
Robbie – It’s a bit of a long-winded one.
Robyn – Yeah go for it.
Robbie – There’s this chap working at the zoo, it’s his first day at the zoo so he’s told to clean out the fishpond. So he’s there cleaning out the fishpond when suddenly this big fish jumps up at him and attacks him. So he’s thinking, “I’m not having this” so he kills the fish. He’s thinking “oh no what am I going to do, I’ve killed the fish and the zookeeper isn’t going to be very happy with me its my first day.” So he thought “I know I’ll feed it to the lions cause the lions will eat anything.” So he chucks the fish to the lions, not a problem. Then his next job is to clean out the chimps. So he’s cleaning out the chimps and its all going fine when they all start chucking shit at him. So he thinks “I’m not having that” and he beats the chimps to death. “Oh no what am I going to do with the chimps” he says. “I know I’ll feed them to the lions cause the lions eat anything.” So he chucks the chimps into the lions, all gone fantastic. So his next job is to collect the honey from the bees. So he’s there collecting it all and they start stinging him and he thinks I’m not having this so he starts crushing, crushing the bees. It makes a right mess but he thinks “its alright cause I’ll feed them to the lions cause the lions will eat anything. Now on that day there’s a new lion in the zoo and he says to the other lions “what’s it like in here?” and one lion says “oh its fantastic, the foods really good. Today we had fish, chimps and mushy bees.
(Robbies laughs at his own joke)
Robbie – Its dreadful but I bet you’ll be telling it to people.
Robyn – (laughs) I’m never going to repeat that.
Robbie – You’ll find yourself.
Robyn – Eh have you gathered any obsessive fans, other than us?
Dan – Dunno
Robbie – I dunno where the line is between obsessive and fan to be honest.
Dan – We’ve not had any..any..well we’ve not had to take a court order out against anybody or anything its not like that.
Robbie – We’ve had no trouble here
Dan – We’ve not had any problems so we don’t really call it obsessive y’know. That’s not a challenge though!
Robyn – Not even coming here on crutches and coming down big fuckoff flights of stairs (laughs)
Robbie – But that’s nice, that’s sweet. If people are prepared to make the effort to do that then that’s fantastic.
Robyn – I’m a good soul (laughs.) Any plans for a worldwide tour?
Robbie – Certainly Europe. Emm and to Japan. So just look into it really. Definitely Japan cause there’s a good market there and then take it wherever we can really. We’ll go anywhere and play.
Dan – Anywhere that’ll have us.
Robyn – And has enough drink.
Robbie - We’ve certainly no plans for America yet. In the plans for the near future we’re certainly not too worried about America, it will happen one day.
Robyn – That’s about it then, unless you have any dramatic plans for next year you want to tell me about.
Dan – I dunno what’s happening next year.
Robbie – Just the same as usual. Keep on touring, get a new album out and just keep it moving forwards and move people forwards with us.
Dan – Get the new album on the move, get that sorted out.
Robyn – This is just me being nosey but how long does it take to do the hair?
Dan – Em its only about twenty minutes.
Robyn– Do you sleep with it?
Dan – Yeah. Once I’ve done it once it’s just easier to sort it out. Just touch it up a little bit and its fine.
Robyn – Well that’s about it. Thanks very much for speaking to us, your good eggs.